There is a well-known saying which goes something like this: “They have to take you back home no matter what, because home is where you belong.” What this reminds us is that we belong to some place, and most definitely home is the place we came from. In today’s Gospel, still during the Easter Season, Jesus reminds the disciples just before His dying, that He was going to prepare a place for them. That place is our eternal home, and God will welcome us back even if we have sinned, because heaven is our home. It is hard for us to believe that we already have a real home waiting for us, because that’s where we all belong. That’s where our early life began the day we were conceived in our mother’s womb. We don’t think about that too much, because we are preoccupied with our cares in our earthly home. But this earthly home is temporary. We also judge ourselves and other people that we think are unworthy to enter this household of God. That’s not how God views it. Did you ever hear the story of Pete who died and was met by Jeasus at the gates of heaven? As Jesus began walking Pete through his new residence, his heavenly home, Pete saw many people from earth that he had previously known. He was really surprised that some of these people even got to heaven because of their lifestyles: there was his friend Joe who cheated on his income tax; there was Mary who gossiped about everyone in the neighborhood; there was Gerry who spent 2/3 of his family’s savings at the racetrack. Pete got quiet, but Jesus knew what he was thinking: he was shocked that his friends got to heaven. Then Pete noticed that his old friends got very quiet when they saw Pete enter heaven. So Pete asked Jesus, “Why is everyone so quiet here?” Jesus answered: “They are all shocked to see that you are here!” My dear friends, many of us are like Pete. We keep track of all the misgivings and sins of those that we live with and know while here on earth. But the Easter message to all of us is: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again!” Yes, he is going to come again to take us home. As He says in the Gospel: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus is our way to heavenly home; and the only way. Let’s begin our journey on earth by not judging each other, but by offering ourselves in peace, mercy and love.   ~ Fr. John